Indiana at Kentucky, live updates . . .

The Hoosiers win the rebounding battle (42-39) the turnover battle (8-17) and get slaughtered on shooting percentage (30.6-44.9)

Thanks for joining us.

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45.3, second half: Kentucky 57, Indiana 54

Wilmont had to take a shot with two seconds on the shot clock. Great defense by Kentucky. Hoosiers need to get the ball back now.

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1:37, second half: Kentucky 57, Indiana 54

Big steal by Joey Shaw right after being put back into the game. He swiped the ball from Bradley and got to the basket for 2.

Earl Calloway followed that up with a steal, but then lost control of the dribble and went up weak to the basket, allowing his shot to be blocked out of bounds. Hoosiers will inbound the ball now.

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6:12, second half: Indiana 47, Kentucky 47

Welcome to Rupp Arena, Mr. Wilmont.

Rod Wilmont just hit two 3s to draw his team even. Wilmont is never afraid to shoot and he’ll usually have a little streak like this each game. Let’s see how long it lasts.

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7:46, second half: Kentucky 47, Indiana 41

Will the Hoosiers push back? Calloway’s playing his best ball of the year but it’s mostly just him and White out there on offense.

Right now, D.J. White is shooting 9-of-16 and the rest of the team is shooting 9-of-43.

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10:31, second half: Kentucky 44, Indiana 39

Swing in momentum, and my ears are ringing. It can get loud in here.

Gritty basketball being played by both teams but Kentucky is getting the better of it right now. Lance Stemler missed two 3 pointers, allowing the Wildcats to go the other way. Joe Crawford, older brother of IU recruit Jordan Crawford, went to the lane, hit and was fouled. He’ll got to the line.

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12:38, second half: Indiana 39, Kentucky 36

Update: Earl Calloway can play on the road. He’s come in and driven the lane twice for easy baskets and then made a steal to set up a put back by A.J. Ratliff that brought Indiana to its current 3-point lead.

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15:56, second half: Kentucky 34, Indiana 30

The Hoosiers have 30 points and D.J. White has scored 17 of them.

Somebody else needs to start hitting. Rod Wilmont is the only other player with more than one field goal. Too many of the shots now are coming early in possessions and are forced.

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18:59, second half: Kentucky 32, Indiana 26

Two relatively easy baskets by Kentucky and two lousy possessions by the Hoosiers have caused Sampson to call a time out just 61 seconds into the half.

Not the prettiest basketball. But good basketball. Kentucky-Indiana basketball. Kelvin Sampson-Tubby Smith basketball.

D.J. White finished it off with a huge dunk after Errek Suhr grabbed a rebound and fed him with just a few seconds on the clock.

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2:20, first half: Kentucky 23, Indiana 22

Back and forth, back and forth. The Wildcats and Hoosiers have been trading baskets since I last blogged. Good news: D.J. White seems to have found whatever it was he lacked at times. He’s been powerful in the low block and has 11 points already on 5-of-9 shooting. He’s also got four rebounds.

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7:54, first half: Indiana 16, Kentucky 15

As with a storm, you knew this Kentucky team was eventually going to surge. It has knocked Indiana back a bit. Earl Calloway was just unable to handle a pass, leading to a turnover.

Indiana has yet to hit a 3-point shot — it is 0-5 — but is still generating enough offense.

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8:33, first half: Indiana 16, Kentucky 13

A pair of monster dunks has awoken the blue mob. First it was Randolph Morris, who’d been defended well by the White-Stemler double team, sneaking through and almost bringing down the whole goal.

Then Derrick Jasper finished off a fast break off a turnover.

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12:21, first half: Indiana 10, Kentucky 6

Ratliff worked it into Shaw, who then found White. He didn’t have to face the double — owing to how quickly he got the ball — and hit the shot.

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15:30, first half: Indiana 7, Kentucky 6

Fairly furious start to this one. D.J. White is once again being hounded by double and triple teams. He adjusted, though, and kicked a pass out to Suhr for a wide open 3. Then Rod Wilmont stepped in and hit a mid-ranger jumper to give Indiana a 1-point lead. He’ll go to the line when this time out ends, having made a steal and drawn a foul.

By the way, Adam Ahlfeld, who is clearly the finest cheerleader in this building, ran down the entire length of the court when the time out was called, earning a stern rebuke from the ref. Apparently, the enthusiasm of young Ahlfeld can be contained. But just barely.

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They definitely just set off fireworks inside the building. I like these Kentucky people. They’re crazy.

The pregame introduction was pretty impressive. Dim all the lights, play a video, get some dramatic music going. Come close to setting the place on fire. Wow.

They’ve given out blue and white shirts to all the fans in the lower section here. Gotta enjoy the color coordination. Man, do Indiana fans stick out. So far I’ve counted about 18 of them. Indiana was alloted just 100 tickets, most of which went to the family and friends of players and coaches and the rest of the athletic department.

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According to a banner hanging here in the arena, Kentucky has won UCA Cheerleading Championships in 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2005 and 2006.

Oh the shame you must feel if you were a member of the 2003 team. Let us never speak of them again.

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Indiana vs. Kentucky.

We need not say more. But since we get paid to do so, we will.

Festive atmosphere here at roomy Rupp Arena. Maybe sending this rivalry back to home arenas — where so much of the history for each program resides — is what it needs to get back to a higher level.